In addition to the
Carter Family's 1929 recording and
Roy Acuff's 1936 recording, many
hillbilly artists recorded "The Wabash Cannonball" during the
Great Depression era of the 1930s, and the song was also recorded by
Piedmont blues musician
Blind Willie McTell.
Bing Crosby recorded the song for his album
Bing Crosby Sings The Great Country Hits. The song increased in popularity during this time.
Origins There are many theories of the origin of "The Wabash Cannonball".
Utah Phillips states that
hobos imagined a mythical train called the "Wabash Cannonball" which was a "death coach" that appeared at the death of a hobo to carry his soul to its reward. The song was then created with the lyrics and music telling the story of the train. When the hobos learned of this train, they called her the "Wabash Cannonball" and said that every station in America had heard her whistle. Another story states that the song is based on a
tall tale in which Cal S. Bunyan,
Paul Bunyan's brother, constructed a railroad known as the Ireland, Jerusalem, Australian & Southern Michigan Line. After two months of service, the 700-car train was traveling so fast that it arrived at its destination an hour before its departure. Finally, the train took off so fast that it rushed into outer space and where, for all that is known, it is still traveling. Notably, the original 1936 story titled "Cal Bunyan's Ireland, Jerusalem, Australia & Southern Indiana Railroad" does not mention the Wabash Cannonball.
Lyrics Over many years, this popular song's music has remained unchanged while the verses have been updated by song artists. As early as 1882, sheet music titled "The Great Rock Island Route" was credited to J. A. Roff. This version and all subsequent versions contain a variation of this chorus: A rewritten version by William Kindt appeared in 1904 under the title "Wabash Cannon Ball". A more modern version of the chorus—these lyrics sung by
Boxcar Willie—is:
Namesakes Due to the song's popularity, the
Wabash Railroad renamed its daytime express run between Detroit and St. Louis as the
Wabash Cannon Ball in 1949. The train carried that name until its discontinuation in 1971 during the creation of
Amtrak. On October 26 and 27, 2013, Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society's
Nickel Plate Road 765, in conjunction with the Norfolk Southern Railway's "
21st Century Steam" program, pulled a round-trip excursion retracing the ''Cannon Ball's'' former route between
Fort Wayne, Indiana, and
Lafayette, Indiana. A
roller coaster named for the song at the now-defunct
Opryland USA theme park in Nashville operated from 1975 to 1997. In 1998, after Opryland's closing, it was relocated to Old Indiana Fun-n-Water Park in
Thorntown, Indiana. In 2003, it was moved into storage.
Use in collegiate sports "The Wabash Cannonball" (arranged by Joel Leach) is known as the unofficial "second" fight song of
Kansas State University (KSU), having been played since the late 1960s. It was the only piece of sheet music rescued from the KSU music department in the Nichols Hall fire of 1968, and grew in popularity with students and fans. The
Kansas State University Marching Band (KSUMB) says that "the Wabash Cannonball has come to represent the survival of the underdog in the hearts and minds of all true K-State fans, and has earned a secure place in the KSUMB's history and traditions." Currently, Kansas State is the prime contributing player of the song and most noted with
Big 12 Conference fans and spectators. The
Longhorn Band at the
University of Texas plays the song at the beginning of every fourth quarter during football season. The tradition began when Texas was in the
Southwest Conference and Kansas State University was in the
Big Eight Conference. Texas band director Vincent R. DiNino once asked football coach
Darrell K Royal if he had any songs he would like to hear the Longhorn Band play. Royal's response was that they did not play enough country music and that he would like to hear Wabash Cannonball. The band rivalry developed during the years that both schools were members of the Big 12 Conference. At
Stephen F. Austin State University, the Twirl-O-Jacks traditionally perform to the tune as played by the Lumberjack Marching Band at the beginning of each football game. The band has also been known to play excerpts from the song during various sporting events. ==Other recordings==